Artist Ray Keim specializes in CGI and animations for education videos and publications for medical professionals, graphics and animations for “edutainment” titles, as well as work on architectural , and theatrical concepts (check out the model here). He’s worked as a model set builder/designer for broadcast television shows and news programs. He is also a self-described fan of the macabre (don’t miss his free desktop images to download – I want to live in them).

He has obviously put countless hours and boundless love and talent into creating 3-D online models of the Haunted Mansions at the Walt Disney theme parks across the globe. If you haven’t checked out his site, Haunted Dimensions, you really should.

Haunted Vampire: I well remember visiting the Haunted Mansion in Disney World in 1976 when I was 12. My favorite part, actually, was the queue and the facade of the building. I wanted to live there. Would you want to live there?

Ray Keim:My first visit to the haunted mansions (both Disney World and Disneyland) was in 1986, when I was 23. When I finally visited the mansions, I wanted one of my own! Especially the Liberty Square mansion at the Magic Kingdom. That is the primary reason why I designed my paper model kit of the Liberty Square mansion. So to answer the question of wanting to live there, I wouldn’t want to live in the attraction specifically, but I would LOVE to live in a real, livable recreation of the Liberty Square mansion!

Haunted Vampire: Which is your favorite Disney Haunted Mansion?

Ray Keim: The mansion in Orlando was the first one I saw first hand, so Liberty Square is “my” mansion.

Haunted Vampire: You’ve done work for Universal’s theme park. Could you
describe what you did there?

Ray Keim: I am a seasonal member of the Entertainment Art and Design team for Universal Studios, Orlando and Islands of Adventure. This past summer I was knee deep in the blood and gore of Universal, Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights events. My primary job was designing graphics for the official Universal Halloween Horror Nights web site, but I also designed event banners, created props and displays for the Halloween Horror Nights VIP Museum, and even created a 3D animation which was used as part of the “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure” stage show. I also designed paper model kits of two of the haunted house facades from the event, “Psychoscareapy” and “ScreamHouse”, which can be downloaded for free from the HHN site, printed and constructed at home. As an added bonus I had a short cameo in the HHN online promotional video “Share the Scare”, in which a gnarly old lady, known as “The Storyteller” pulled out my tongue with a pair of pliers! Yes, it’s an awesome job! I’m looking forward to my return in the spring!

Haunted Vampire: What other horror-related projects have you been involved with?

Ray Keim: My hobby (and some say my “obsession”) is my web site Haunted Dimensions, which is dedicated to the Disney Haunted Mansion Attractions. Haunted Dimensions started out as a small showcase for some of my 3D illustrations of the California and Orlando mansions, but it has
become widely known for my free paper model kits of the mansions, crypts, tombstones and other objects from the possessed manors. The site also has projects such as how to create a sugar cookie “gingerbread” Phantom Manor, carving pumpkins, and even a few photo journals of some of the ghostly places I have visited. such as the Lizzie Borden House, and the cemeteries of the Boston area.

Haunted Vampire: If after your death you existed as a ghost, where would
you haunt and what would you do to scare people?

Ray Keim: Just like in “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, I would want the ability to remind people that we’re all in this together, and you only have one chance to make a positive mark on humanity. I would never want to scare good hearted people, but watch out mean and brutal people!

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Posted: February 21st, 2007 at 6:51 am

I went to Disneyworld in ’74 (I was 10); I remember falling head over heels for the Haunted Mansion (I just wanted to ride it over and over! Alas, it scared my little brother.) That trip was also notable for the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum in St. Augustine, complete with stuffed two-headed calf.